Whole Wheat Apple Muffins

One of my favorite blogs is SmittenKitchen.com.

The blog is filled with beautiful and colorful pictures of food. Just looking at them makes me drool and hungry.

Her food is not just the LOOKS. They are also YUMMY too. I have tried several recipes by Deb and they all turned out great. Once I made Roseanne Cash’s Potato Salad to a family gathering and look what happened. They asked me to make some more for the future gatherings! I love Deb for it

My very first recipe is originally from Smitten Kitchen, but I tweaked a little bit. I used unsweetened apple butter and oil to substitute butter to make it a little bit healthier. Well, here it is:

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Whole Wheat Apple Muffins

Original Recipe from: Smitten Kitchen

Makes 18 Muffin Cups

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour, sifted
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup unsweetened apple butter
• 1/4 cup oil (I used canola, but vegetable, olive, or any type would be fine, I think)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 cup buttermilk or yogurt
• 2 large apples, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed (for sprinkle on the top) — optional

Preheat the oven to 450F. Grease and flour 18 muffin cups and set aside.

Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, and set aside. In a separate bowl, mix the oil and apple sauce together, then add the granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat until fluffy. Add the egg and mix well; stop once to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Mix in the buttermilk gently (if you over-mix, the buttermilk will cause the mixture to curdle). Stir in the dry ingredients and fold in the apple chunks.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups (here, she suggests to sprinkle the 1/4 cup of brown sugar on top of each muffin before baking, but I just skipped this step). Bake for 10 minutes, turn the heat down to 400F, and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out onto a wire rack to cool completely.